Chapter 3180: Slain in One Strike
Gong Shang raised his palm, intending to swallow the Refined Divine Flower as a divine medicine directly.
"Boom!"
The ground exploded as a sword beam shot straight upward, dragging a "一"-shaped light mark, striking toward Gong Shang's brow.
Instead of being alarmed, Gong Shang was delighted. From the eye of the Three Fiend Emperor's half-skull, a three-colored beam surged forth, colliding with Zhang Ruochen, who held the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
"Swords, out!"
The six divine swords struck first, dragging trails of sword light, slashing at Gong Shang's wrist that gripped the Refined Divine Flower.
"Boom!"
Zhang Ruochen's defenses were pierced through by the three-colored beam. Blood light burst from his body, countless bones broken, and he flew out like a cannonball, crashing heavily to the ground.
A large section of the dark matter earth shattered.
But the six divine swords had also severed Gong Shang's wrist.
Enraged, Gong Shang was about to reclaim his severed hand.
Zhang Ruochen, having executed the Timeless Space Body Technique, appeared before him again, raising the Divine King Talisman to block the three-colored beam flying from his pupils.
"Zhang Ruochen, since you seek death, I, the Master, shall grant it."
As Gong Shang's roar echoed, a Netherworld City materialized in the darkness, its walls taller than mountain ranges, death aura pervading, dark rules interweaving.
The Netherworld City descended with a crash, suppressing Zhang Ruochen and the Divine King Talisman he held, deep into the ground.
"Boom!"
Zhang Ruochen, holding the Abyssal Ancient Sword in one hand and the God-Defying Stele in the other, pierced through the Netherworld City and flew out.
With a single slash, the Abyssal Ancient Sword's blade extended ten thousand zhang.
Simultaneously, the six divine swords struck together, killing intent soaring to the heavens, as if ten thousand swords were unleashed.
But Gong Shang manifested the Nether God Ancestor's phantom behind him, blocking all incoming swords. Then, throwing a punch, he struck Zhang Ruochen heavily.
Zhang Ruochen attempted to counter with the God-Defying Stele.
The moment he hurled the stele, it collided with Gong Shang's fist, and the overwhelming force sent him flying again.
His body was shattered, black divine blood flowing from within.
At this moment, the corpse aura within him was heavy; under the corrosion of corpse poison, his divine blood had turned black.
Gong Shang glanced at his own fist, then at the God-Defying Stele beside Zhang Ruochen, a flicker of surprise crossing his face. He was about to retrieve the stele for inspection when Feng Caiyi's icy voice rang in his ears: "Gong Shang, Three Fiend Emperor, death has arrived!"
Terrified, Gong Shang immediately turned, unleashing a series of supreme sacred artifacts from within his body.
Behind him, a phoenix wing slashed down, incinerating and melting all the supreme sacred artifacts into red-hot liquid droplets.
All defenses were useless. The Nether God Ancestor exploded, the Netherworld City annihilated.
"Pfft!"
Gong Shang's divine body and divine sea were split from the brow, cleaved in two.
Even his divine source was the same, exploding directly.
At the severed edges of his divine body, a red-hot iron-like color appeared, continuously melting flesh and bones, eventually reducing them to a pile of ash.
Within the ashes, the Three Fiend Emperor's half-skull withstood the Phoenix Divine Flame, not melting, but was heavily wounded, its flesh and blood mangled, emitting pleading sounds: "Death God Venerable, we are both deities of the Hell Realm, both born from the Corpse Clan. My previous actions were entirely Gong Shang's... ah..."
Mu Lingxi was utterly cold. She stepped down, Phoenix Divine Flame igniting beneath her foot, scorching the Three Fiend Emperor's half-skull with a "hissing" sound.
Only after his spirit and divine soul were completely refined did she lift her foot.
On the ground, only half a face-shaped bone remained.
Mu Lingxi walked up to Zhang Ruochen, extending a slender hand. The pair of phoenix wings behind her appeared exceptionally resplendent and beautiful, as if dispelling the darkness.
Zhang Ruochen, heavily afflicted by corpse poison, did not touch her hand, rising on his own, and asked, "How did your cultivation recover?"
Mu Lingxi withdrew her hand, saying, "My cultivation has always been there; it's just that this physical body cannot bear such immense power, so it cannot be used. It's like wrapping fire in paper—once the flame ignites, the paper is gone, and the flame is gone too. So no matter how strong the flame, it must become a cold fire to be nurtured within the paper."
"But just now..." Zhang Ruochen said.
Mu Lingxi said, "It was your First-Rank Divine Path that infused too much of your Chaos Dual Qi into this body. Only then could I temporarily release some Phoenix Divine Flame. Compared to my true power, it's still far off!"
She spread her hands, the Chaos Dual Qi in her palms gradually dissipating. Her beautiful face turned solemn, forcing her to immediately retract her divine might and internalize all the Phoenix Divine Flame.
Zhang Ruochen's physical body was formidable, able to resist the Three Fiend Corpse Poison. Through the continuous transformation of the Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram, the corpse poison was gradually worn away.
As the corpse poison was refined, his physical injuries began to recover.
When his body fully returned to normal, Zhang Ruochen stopped, using the Abyssal Ancient Sword to support himself, letting out a long breath, but a deep gloom lingered in his eyes.
"Has the corpse poison been completely refined?" Mu Lingxi asked proactively.
"Mostly refined; the rest is no longer a threat."
Zhang Ruochen's injuries had recovered sixty to seventy percent, his aura gradually strengthening. Looking at the specks of black dust on the ground, he once again experienced the pain of wanting to save someone but being unable to.
"Gong Shang is dead, so he has been avenged. In this world, whether living beings or the dead, all return to dust and earth eventually—it's just a matter of time," Mu Lingxi said.
Zhang Ruochen gave her an odd look. Confirming she was Feng Tianhou, deeper doubts arose in his mind, but he didn't dwell on them. Instead, he unfolded the Wuji Divine Dao, manifesting the Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram.
From the ground, the residual divine matter dust of Yan Liren rose one by one, coalescing within the Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram.
Mu Lingxi watched this scene quietly, knowing that any particle of divine matter contained the divine soul and consciousness of a deity.
But corroded by the Three Fiend Corpse Poison, how could Yan Liren, merely a mid-rank god, have preserved his divine soul and consciousness?
Moreover, Yan Liren's divine source had been directly absorbed and refined by Gong Shang.
The remaining divine matter of Yan Liren was not much, only about the size of a fist.
Carrying this mass of divine matter, Zhang Ruochen walked toward Gong Shang's severed hand.
That hand, after being cut off, was firmly suppressed by the six divine swords, not a single drop of blood flowing from the severed edge.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "Where is Yan Liren's divine soul?"
To control Yan Liren, Gong Shang had long taken most of his divine soul.
From within the hand, Gong Shang's laughter rang out: "It's right here in my body, but it has been ground away by Death God Venerable! Haha, Zhang Ruochen, you could have saved him originally, but who knew Death God Venerable would be so ruthless?"
With his main body and divine source destroyed, and only a hand remaining, what meaning was there in surviving?
Better to sow discord between Zhang Ruochen and Death God Venerable before dying, planting a thorn in their hearts.
Zhang Ruochen snorted lightly, manipulating the Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram to envelop the massive hand, extracting the remaining strands of Gong Shang's divine soul.
As Zhang Ruochen expected, Gong Shang had long refined Yan Liren's divine soul, merging it with his own. Even the divine soul obtained from killing Yan Liren earlier had been refined.
From Gong Shang's limited divine soul, Zhang Ruochen separated the strands of divine consciousness belonging to Yan Liren.
Gong Shang's divine soul emitted an incredulous, horrified voice: "Zhang Ruochen, what kind of technique is this? How can you possess such means? This is something only possible for those with spiritual power at the level of 'one thought determines the universe'!"
The Wuji Divine Dao was all-capable.
But why explain this to a dead man?
All the parts of Gong Shang's divine soul belonging to Yan Liren were extracted by Zhang Ruochen, coalescing into a faint human silhouette within the Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram.
Because this silhouette's divine soul was very weak, and its consciousness equally faint, it merely smiled faintly at Zhang Ruochen, finding it difficult even to speak.
Zhang Ruochen merged this divine soul with Yan Liren's remaining divine matter.
Then, he took out a Buddha Relic and shot it out.
The divine matter condensed into a three-inch-tall clay figurine, the Buddha Relic transforming into a speck of golden light, flickering at the figurine's brow.
Mu Lingxi watched this scene quietly, seeing in Zhang Ruochen a trace of human warmth rarely found in other deities. That was a Buddha Relic, yet he could use it so generously on a deity with whom he had no deep bond.
In the past, she would certainly have been unable to understand such behavior, thinking Zhang Ruochen foolish.
But having witnessed his repeated acts of foolishness, and recalling his past follies, she suddenly seemed to understand something.
No wonder so many old fellows who had lived for hundreds of thousands, even millions of years, valued Zhang Ruochen. Besides his unparalleled First-Rank Divine Path, he indeed possessed some unique personal charisma.
Far superior to those deities who constantly spoke of saving the suffering and universal equality, yet fled faster than anyone when danger arose.
She still did not approve of Zhang Ruochen's actions, but she could observe them with a calm attitude and even generate some reflections.
"Xumi often spoke of benevolence and righteousness. Now, after death, using a relic to save someone is indeed in line with his wishes!" Mu Lingxi said with a cold, mocking smile.
Zhang Ruochen tucked the clay figurine into his sleeve, intending to return to the Kunlun Realm, find a family, and let Yan Liren reincarnate and cultivate anew. He said, "Feng Tian, it seems your relationship with the Saint Monk was more than just adversarial?"
A contemplative look appeared in Mu Lingxi's eyes, as if recalling something, but soon she sneered: "Pity that he did not die by my hand, that I could not personally avenge Fan Ning."